Intro: the story is told that some soldiers leaving an island at the end of World War 2 conveyed Christmas to the islanders with gifts and Christmas songs. Years later one of these men visited that island and was shocked to find a church there. He was invited to attend the service, which consisted of gift giving and Christmas songs. The islanders had accepted Christ, and had declared every day Christmas. The concept of gift giving didn’t start with America, but with three wise men. Today, I would like to look at their gifts and preach on the subject, The Three Gifts of Christmas—Matthew 2:1-12
Gold---purity
Frankincense—worship
Myrrh—victory over death
Since gifts are such a big part of Christmas, let’s make sure we learn what the Grinch learned that Christmas is more than this:
"Fa-who-for-ay; da-who-dor-ay; welcome, Christmas,
come this way; Fa-who-for-ay; da-who-dor-ay;
welcome, Christmas, Christmas day."
They continue, singing,
"Christmas day is in our grasp
so long as we have hands to clasp."
The Grinch can hardly believe his ears.
He begins to get furious, but then something happens.
He suddenly puzzles how Christmas came.
"It came without ribbons. It came without tags.
It came without packages, boxes, or bags."
Suddenly the Grinch realizes that Christmas
is about more than presents, or decorations,
or a feast.
He has a thought he’s never thought before:
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn’t come
from a store; Maybe Christmas perhaps
means." a little bit more
Here is what the three gifts of Christmas teach us
I. Gold—purity
Isaiah 1:18—though your sins be as scarlet, they will be white as snow
Though they be red like crimson, they will be like wool.
The first gift of Christmas is that Jesus Christ is born a Saviour, he will save people from their sins. He will save us to the uttermost, He will remove our transgressions from us, as far as the east is from the west.
Ill) there is probably no greater picture of the salvation of Christmas than in one of the Tsunami stories: here is a picture of what Christ has done for us on Christmas
Topic: Hardship of Life
We know that 80% of the town of Meulaboh in Aceh, Indonesia was destroyed by the Tsunami waves and 80% of the people also died. This is one of the towns that was hit the hardest. But there is a fantastic testimony from Meulaboh. In that town are about 400 Christians. They wanted to celebrate Christmas on December 25th but were not allowed to do so by the Muslims of Meulaboh. They were told if they wanted to celebrate Christmas they needed to go outside the city of Meulaboh on a high hill and there celebrate Christmas. Because the Christians desired to celebrate Christmas the 400 believers left the city on December 25th and after they celebrated Christmas they stayed overnight on the hill. As we all know the morning of December 26 there was the earthquake followed by the Tsunami waves destroying most of the city of Meulaboh and thousands were killed. The 400 believers were on the mountain and were all saved from destruction. Now the Muslims of Meulaboh are saying that the God of the Christians punished them for forbidding the Christians from celebrating Christmas in the city. Others are questioning why so many Muslims died while not even one of the Christians died there.Had the Christians insisted on their rights to celebrate Christmas in the city, they would have all died.That is the story of Christmas, sin was about to wash us away, but instead His blood wash all our sin away, praise the Lord.
II. Frankincense—Worship—John 4:23-24—and now is—this is such an exciting scripture because Jesus paved the way for real worship to God the Father. Before the birth of Christ, ceremonial, legalistic worship was offered to God, but now we Worship God in Spirit and Truth. Our worship is real, genuine, we can approach God in sincerity of heart.
· Christmas is a time of Worship, no matter what we are going through, no matter how hard times are, we have the opportunity to Worship God. Sometimes our situations keep us from seeing the blessings that God has for us. Sometimes we get trapped in our present and can’t look toward our destiny.
Ill) ILL. Kenneth Dodge tells about an 8-year-old boy named Frank. Frank had a date with his father to go fishing on Saturday. They were going to fish the whole day. On Friday night he had everything laid out. He was ready to go.
But on Saturday morning he awoke to discover that it was raining cats & dogs, & they couldn’t go fishing. So 8-year-old Frank grumbled & griped & complained all morning long. He kicked the furniture, the dog, the cat. Nothing was right. "Why does it have to rain today?"
His father tried to explain to him that the farmers needed the rain. But that didn’t satisfy Frank. "Why does it have to rain today?" he said. About noon the clouds broke & the sun came out. His dad said, "Well, we can’t go fishing all day, but at least we can fish this afternoon. Let’s go." So they jumped into the truck, went to the lake & fished all afternoon, & caught more fish than they had ever caught before. The baskets were full, & they had the time of their lives.
They came home, & mom cooked some of the fish for supper. As they were sitting down to eat, Frank’s dad looked at him & asked, "Would you ask the blessing?" Eight-year-old Frank prayed this prayer: "God, if I sounded a little grumpy earlier today, it was because I couldn’t see far enough ahead."
The world can’t worship because they can’t see that far ahead, but for the Christian we worship, because of all Jesus has done, is doing, and is about to do.
III. Myrrh—victory over death. Myrrh is used for anointing bodies for burial. This would seem like such a weird gift, but it is symbolic of the fact that this little baby would defeat death, hell and the grave.
John 10:10—the thief cometh not but for to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly. I wonder if Mary in receiving these gifts could see the significance of the gifts being given to her child.
I wonder if we understand these gifts and what they really mean for us today. I saw a parent’s Christmas list, and the last thing on the list seems to point to the birth of Christ, here’s the list:
Here they are I know you’ve been waiting for them, the top 10 real Christmas wishes.
10) A new SUV that would fit in my stocking
9) Two words: Batteries Included
8) No Payments until 2050
7) To Get Christmas Cards out by Easter
6) To complete Christmas shopping at the dollar store
5) Gifts shipped on December 23 will arrive on time
4) To find a string of lights that work
3) No Assembly Required
2) The kids would say, “Hey, let’s sleep in.”
1) A note that says “Paid in Full”
Here it is: the note that says paid in full is the gift of myrrh. It means that this little child would pay all our debts, would pay the price we couldn’t pay, Mary was the first one to carry the gospel, and the news brought joy real joy.
Close: here is our perfect Christmas list:
Jesus brought us salvation---it is the gift of gold
Jesus brought us worship---we can boldly approach the throne of grace, it is the gift of frankincense.
Jesus brought us victory over death, hell and the grave, it is the gift of myrrh.
Today we should celebrate Christmas because we are saved.
Today we should Worship God because Jesus came into our hearts.
Today we should offer praise because death has lost it’s sting.
As Christians we have something great in Christmas, let’s not miss the meaning of the birth of Christ, let’s not get burdened down with the rest of the world. Let’s let the love of God shine through our lives. We should be like the three prospectors who couldn’t hide their treasure, because it was written all over their faces, here’s the story
ILL. I like the story about 3 prospectors who found a rich vein of gold in California during the gold rush days. They realized what a great discovery they had, & decided, "We’ve a really good thing going here as long as no one else finds out about it." So they each took a vow to keep it secret.
Then they headed for town to file their claims & get the equipment necessary to mine the gold. True to their vows, they didn’t say a word to anybody. They filed their claim, bought the equipment, & headed back to their mine. But when they did, a crowd of people followed them.
And the reason was because the expression on their faces had given them away. Their faces were aglow in anticipation of the wealth that soon would be theirs. People knew that they must have found something very special. So a crowd followed them out of town
This year, let Jesus be written all over your face for Christmas. He is still that perfect gift that comes down from the Father.
